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We’re officially past the halfway mark at the Commonwealth Games 2018!
A relatively quiet day for India was Tuesday with just Heena Sidhu and Sachin Chaudhary’s medals being added to the team’s tally, Wednesday though doesn't seem like it will be much different.
Already a gold medallist in Gold Coast, Jitu Rai is in action early morning and then we have promising youngsters Tejaswin Shankar’s high jump finale later in the day.
CWG debutant MC Mary Kom is also taking the ring later in the day in a semi-final bout. She has already assured herself of a medal but a win today will earn her a place in the gold medal match.
The day starts with Australia maintaining a massive lead over all other contingents, in the medal tally.
India still at the third spot with 11 gold medals, 4 silvers and 6 bronze.
Yep, if you slept early to catch the CWG action this morning, then, like me, you probably missed the comeback of the season in the Champions League. AS Roma managed to overcome a 4-1 deficit from the first leg quarter-final tie against Barcelona with a 3-0 victory at home last night.
Little deja vu for Barcelona. Remember how they overcame a 4-0 first leg deficit to Paris St Germain last season! Messi’s team now joins PSG and AC Milan (eliminated by Deportivo La Coruna in 2004) as the only teams to have been knocked out after winning the first leg by at least three goals.
Track and field events are on in full swing and while Muhammad Anas put up quite a show by finishing a credible fourth in the men’s 400m final, the big medal hopes are yet to start their campaigns.
Young javelin-thrower Neeraj Chopra has to wait till the 14th for his event. He became the only Indian athlete to have ever broken a world record when he surpassed a junior record two years back.
In today’s context, Tejaswin Shankar is the man to watch. Training in America where he’s pursuing an undergraduate degree, Shankar broke the national record in high-jump when he was just in his teens.
Jitu Rai and Om Mitharval have both qualified for the finals of the Men’s 50m pistol final, only, not in the order most had probably predicted.
Jitu, a gold medallist from this CWG already, qualified at the third last spot while it is Om who topped the prelims with a score of 549.
The final starts at 7:30am IST today.
Shreyasi Singh and Varsha Varman are both in contention in the final of the women’s double trap event.
Shreyasi Singh shot a 24 in the opening round to tie for the top spot with Linda Pearson of Scotland. There are three more round to go and we will keep you updated.
If you need some reading material though, check out the match report from the Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders game last night.
No double for Jitu Rai in Gold Coast as the Indian shooter has been eliminated from the 50m Pistol final.
Following the first 12 shots, Jitu’s score was 105 and he becomes the first player to exit the final. The other Indian in contention, Om Mitharval is at the second spot with 111.3 points.
Forging towards a gold medal in her CWG debut is MC Mary Kom. The 35-year-old boxer has beaten Sri Lankan 39-year-old Anushka Dilsrushki Koddithuwak in the (45-48kg) semi-final to book a spot in the gold medal match.
Despite the height advantage Koddithuwak struggled to connect for most part and while she did pick up pace in the final three minutes, Mary had enough in her arsenal to maintain her lead.
The five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist won the semi-final with a 5-0 scoreline.
Om Mitherval has bagged his second medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a bronze in the men’s 50m pistol event. He had earlier won a bronze in the men’s 10m air pistol event.
Placed second before the elimination shot, Mitherval shot 7.2 while Bangladesh’s Shakil Ahmed shot 9.5, forcing the Indian to rest his gun. Ahmed went on to fight for gold against Daniel Repacholi of Australia who eventually won the gold with a new CWG record of 227.2.
The other Indian in the final, defending champion Jitu Rai however was the first to get eliminated in the final. The reigning Asian Games champion registered a below par 105 to finish at the bottom of the eight-man final.
India are off to a disappointing start with Krishna Xalxo and the women's Pairs team both losing their matches.
In men's singles sectional play, Krishna failed to open his account against New Zealand's Shannon McIlroy to go down 0-21 in a tie that only lasted for nine rounds. This defeat now ends his campaign at Gold Coast.
In women's pairs sectional play round 4, India's Lovely Choubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey went down narrowly 17-19 to South African duo of Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh.
India's Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran have entered the round of 16 in the men's doubles table event after beating Kiribati’s Tauramoa Miita and Nooa Takooa 3-0.
The Indian duo had no problems in dealing with the inexperienced Kiribati pair, comfortably clinching the affair 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 in the round of 32.
India’s great form in boxing continues! Gaurav Solanki assured of a medal (52 kg category) after beating PNG’s Charles Keama 5-0 in quarter-finals.
Shreyasi Singh wins a gold medal in women’s double trap event after winning a shoot off against Australia’s Emma Cox. They were tied at 96 points before Shreyasi shot a two-pointer to seal the deal.
Vikas Krishan is assured of a medal after defeating Zambia’s Benny Muziyo 5-0 in the quarter-final of the 75 kg category event.
Ashab Mohd finished fourth in the double trap event with a score of 43. The other Indian in the fray, Ankur Mittal is currently placed second with 46 points.
Ankur Mittal wins the bronze medal after recording a score of 53 in 60 shots. This is his first Commonwealth Games medal.
Sanil Shankar Shetty/Madhurika Patkar move to round of 16 in the mixed doubles competition after beating Sri Lanka’s Buwaneka Jayasingha Mudiyanselage/Erandi Warusawithana 11-5, 11-8, 11-5.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Manika Batra move to round of 16 in the mixed doubles competition after beating Malaysia’s Ying Ho/Chee Feng Leong 11-7, 11-8, 13-11.
Saina Nehwal beats South Africa’s Elsie de Villiers 21-3, 21-1 in the round of 32 of women’s singles.
Kidambi Srikanth eases past Mauritius’ Aatish Lubah 21-13, 21-10 to book a place in the round of 16 of the men’s singles draw.
Top seed PV Sindhu beat Fiji’s Andra Whiteside in 18 minutes to breeze into the next round. Sindhu won 21-6, 21-3.
Ruthvika Gadde wins comprehensively against Ghana’s Atipaka to move into the next round. Gadde won 21-5, 21-7 in less than 20 minutes.
England’s Lisa Whiteside defeats India's Pinki Rani in 51 kg quarterfinal event. The bout was closely fought with the judges’ giving a 3-2 decision in favour of Whiteside.
HS Prannoy beats Christopher Paul 21-14, 21-6 to book his spot in the last-16 of the event.
India face England in their last Pool B encounter. India have already qualified for the semi-finals. A win against England will decide India’s opponent in the semis. Till now, India have won two and drawn one in the group stage. India beat Wales (4-3 and Malaysia (2-1) while drew against Pakistan (2-2) in their first match.
India’s women long jumpers Nayana James and Neena Pinto extended their stay in the competition into the final to be held tomorrow.
Only four jumpers went past the automatic qualification mark of 6.60 m. Nayana James with a jump of 6.21 m progressed as the ninth best jumper and 27-year-old Neena Pinto with an effort of 6.24 m.
The final will be held at 3.25 p.m. tomorrow.
India’s Harmeet Desai qualify for the Round of 16 in the men’s singles table tennis event after defeating Papua New Guinea’s Geoffrey Loi 11-4, 11-3, 11-2, 11-1.
England’s David Condon scores a goal of a deflection as the Indian defence caught napping. India 0-1 England.
Manish Kaushik punch his way into men’s 60 kg semi-finals via unanimous decision 5-0 against England’s Calum French. He is India’s ninth pugilist, who is assured of a medal at Gold Coast.
Skipper Mandeep Singh scores the equaliser for India in the third quarter as India now press for a win. India 1-1 England.
Rupinder Pal Singh’s powerful drag-flick takes a deflection and goes past the line for India’s second.
England’s Liam Ansell bring back England in the match with a goal from a penalty corner.
Tejaswin Shankar sails over 2.24 m in his first attempt. His personal best is 2.28 m.
After Liam Ansell, now its Sam Ward’s turn to convert a penalty corner. England go up 3-2. Less than five minutes to go India are down by 2-3.
India’s Varun Kumar scores the third goal from a penalty corner. India equalise 3-3.
In the dying seconds, skipper Mandeep Singh scores the goal from long range which takes a deflection before crawling into the goal. Less than thirty seconds to go.
In a thriller of a match, which saw some tense moments in dying minutes, India edge past England to win their last Pool B tie 4-3. With this win, India finish Pool B as toppers. They will now face New Zealand in the semi-finals on Saturday (14 April).
19-year-old Tejaswin Shankar finishes joint sixth in the high jump final with a best of 2.24 m Despite setting a National record at 2.28 m last month, Tejaswin was unable to clear 2.27 m in his three attempts. He cleared the opening height of 2.18 m on second attempt and went past the bar placed at 2.21 m and 2.24 m without much effort.
India’s Hima Das clocked 51.32 sec, her personal best, to finish sixth in the women’s 400 m final. Botswana’s Amantle Montsho comes first, clocking 50.15 sec while Jamaican Anastasia Le-Roy (50.57) and Stephenie Mcpherson (50.93) come second and third respectively.
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